West Highland Line
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| West Highland Line | ||||||||||||||||
Principal stations (from south to north)
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Since the great improvements to Scottish trunk roads in the 1980s, the train journey can take significantly longer than the equivalent road journey. The line takes a circuitous route that brings it into Fort William from the north-east. Most of the line is single track and up trains must wait at stations where the track is dual for down trains to pass. Over much of the Rannoch Moor section the speed limit is 30 mph to avoid damage to the foundations of the track which float on top of the boggy ground.
Shortly after leaving Queen Street Station in Glasgow, and beyond Queen Street Tunnel, the line follows a northwesterly course through the suburbs of Maryhill and Kelvindale. Between Anniesland and Dumbarton, the route is shared with the North Clyde Line before branching northward at Craigendoran Junction towards Garelochhead and emerging alongside the northwesterly shores of Loch Lomond; the section where the WHL is generally accepted to "begin proper". Significant points on the journey include Crianlarich, an important Highland junction of both road and rail, and Tyndrum, the smallest place in Scotland to boast two railway stations. After Tyndrum, the line climbs onto the Rannoch Moor. In winter, the moor is often covered with snow, and the deer may be seen running from the approaching train. The station at Corrour on the moor is one of the most remote stations in Britain. Carrying on northwards, the final stop before Fort William is Spean Bridge.
The sleeper train terminates at Fort William, but the true glory of the West Highland Line is yet to come. The section between Fort William and Mallaig passes over a magnificent viaduct at Glenfinnan, through Arisaig with its fine views of the Small Isles of Rùm, Eigg, Muck and Canna, and the sparkling white sands of Morar before coming to Mallaig itself. "The Jacobite" steam locomotive-hauled train operates over this section in summer.
The railway is signalled using the Radio Electronic Token Block, controlled from the signal box near Banavie Station.
The route in detail
Places served along the route from Glasgow Queen Street are listed below. Sleeper services to Fort William start, however, at Edinburgh Waverley.
| Railway lines in Scotland | ||
|---|---|---|
| Main lines: | East Coast - West Coast - Ayrshire Coast, Glasgow-Dundee (via Perth) - Glasgow-Edinburgh (via Carstairs) - Glasgow-Edinburgh (via Falkirk) - Edinburgh-Aberdeen - Glasgow South Western - Highland | |
| Glasgow commuter lines: | █ Argyle - █ Ayrshire Coast - █ Cathcart Circle - █ Croy - █ Cumbernauld - █ Inverclyde - █ Maryhill - █ Motherwell-Cumbernauld - █ North Clyde - █ Paisley Canal - █ Shotts - █ South Western - █ Whifflet | |
| Edinburgh commuter lines: | █ Bathgate - █ Crossrail - █ Dunblane - █ Fife Circle - █ North Berwick - █ Shotts | |
| Rural lines: | Aberdeen-Inverness - Far North - Kyle of Lochalsh - West Highland | |
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